Police release few new details about dancer’s disappearance
Whatever leads police might have in the case of a dancer who went missing earlier this month, they aren’t sharing.
Few new details were released in a news conference Tuesday morning, in which Las Vegas police Lt. Rob Lundquist pleaded for the public’s help in finding Deborah Flores-Narvaez, 31, last seen Dec. 12.
“We are asking and urging anyone in the public to come forward regarding her disappearance,” said Lundquist, who heads the department’s missing persons detail.
Flores-Narvaez is a dancer in the Luxor show “Fantasy.” She is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing about 120 pounds.
According to police, the last person to see Flores-Narvaez was her ex-boyfriend, Jason Omar Griffith, who was charged with domestic violence after an October incident with the dancer.
Griffith did not attend a hearing on the abuse charge Tuesday, but was represented by defense attorney Patrick McDonald.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled in the case for April 14.
A police report from the Oct. 22 incident accused Griffith of beating Flores-Narvaez after the couple argued about her iPhone.
In the report, Flores-Narvaez also told police she was pregnant with Griffith’s child. Lundquist offered limited information on Griffith’s abuse charge, or his history with Flores-Narvaez. He referred to Griffith as a cooperative “person of interest,” not as a suspect.
He said Griffith told detectives he’d spoken with Flores-Narvaez the night she went missing, but the conversation was brief and she seemed OK before leaving his residence, Lundquist said.
On Thursday, police found the dancer’s abandoned Chevrolet Prizm in the northeast area of the valley. The license plate on the car had been removed, police said.
Friends and family members have papered the Strip with “missing” signs. They said she would never leave without telling her parents or employer that she was going.
She grew up in Puerto Rico before moving to Maryland, where she studied international business. She served as an ambassador for the Washington Redskins in 2007, a nonperforming position that sent her into the community.
She moved to Las Vegas and was hired at some of the Strip’s poshest nightclubs — Jet at The Mirage and Haze at Aria, among others.
On Facebook, a “Finding Debbie Flores-Narvaez” fundraising page was created by friends. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than $3,300 had been raised.
Police said there is no reason to think Flores-Narvaez was slain. Police are still interviewing family and friends in what Lundquist called an active investigation.
“We’re hopeful,” said Lundquist. “She may very well be alive.”
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is urged to call the Metropolitan Police Department’s missing persons detail at 828-2907.
Reporter Francis McCabe contributed to this report. Contact reporter Mike Blasky at mblasky@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0283.